Information in this section is from the Population Division of the United Nations' World Population Prospects: The 2008 Revision(footnote 1) . International migration statistics presented therein are averaged over five years to improve comparability between countries. Note that NOM produced by the ABS differs from that provided by the United Nations, due to differences in methodology. The ABS estimates NOM at an average of 117,000 per year for 2000-05 and, using current estimates and projections, at 227,000 per year for 2005-10. The United Nations estimates Australia's NOM at an average of 128,000 per year for 2000-05 and 100,000 for 2005-10.

2.4 Net international migration, Selected countries(a)

2000-05

2005-10

Number

Migration rate(b)

Number

Migration rate(b)

Percentage change 2000-05 to 2005-10

'000

rate

'000

rate

%

Australia(c)

128

6.5

100

4.8

-21.9

Canada

218

6.9

210

6.3

-3.7

China

-412

-0.3

-346

-0.3

-16.0

India

-308

-0.3

-200

-0.2

-35.1

Japan

16

0.1

30

0.2

87.5

Korea, Republic of

-13

-0.3

-6

-0.1

-53.8

Malaysia

30

1.2

26

1.0

-13.3

New Zealand

21

5.1

10

2.4

-52.4

South Africa

140

3.0

140

2.8

-

United Kingdom

190

3.2

190

3.1

-

United States of America

1 135

3.8

1 010

3.3

-11.0

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)

(a) Medium variant.

(b) Net overseas migration per 1,000 population.

(c) For more recent ABS data for Australia, see paragraph above.

Source: United Nations Population Division, World Population Prospects: The 2008 Revision. Accessed 21 Jun 2010.

Table 2.4 illustrates selected countries that gain or lose population through net migration. As with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America experienced high net international migration rates in 2000-05 (rates above 3.5 per 1,000 population). Some countries experienced lower rates of growth (e.g. Malaysia, 1.2 per 1,000 population) while others had negative rates (e.g. India, -0.3 per 1,000 population). In numeric terms in the 2000-05 period, for the selected countries, the gains from net international migration ranged from an average 16,000 persons per year for Japan to 1.1 million persons for the United States of America. The losses ranged from 13,000 persons for the Republic of Korea to an average 412,000 persons per year for China.

In the 2005-10 period, the United Nations estimates that while some countries will continue to gain population from net international migration, the rate of gain will be reduced in most cases. For example, in 2005-10 New Zealand is estimated to gain an average of 10,000 persons per year from net international migration, a 52% decrease on the 2000-05 gain (21,000). Conversely, in 2005-10 period, Japan is estimated to gain an average of 30,000 persons from net international migration, an increase of 88% on the 2000-2005 figure (16,000 persons).

For the countries that experienced negative net international migration in the selected periods, the loss in 2005-10 is estimated to be less than that experienced in 2000-2005. For the Republic of Korea, the loss due to net international migration in 2005-10 was an average 6,000 persons per year, 54% less than the loss in the 2000-05 period (13,000 persons).

When examining the regions of the world (as defined by the United Nations Population Division) the estimates of international movements show the more developed regions gain population from migration whereas the less and least developed regions lose population from overseas migration (Figure 2.5). The medium projection suggests that there will be a decline in the migration rate for the more developed regions. Over time the migration rate is projected to drop from 2.6 per 1,000 population in 2000-05 to 2.2 per 1,000 population in 2005-10. This indicates that over time, a smaller proportion of people will leave the less developed and least developed regions for the more developed regions. The less developed regions will reduce their net migration rate from -0.6 to -0.5 per 1,000 population while the least developed regions will reduce their net migration rate from -0.7 to -0.4 per 1,000 population.

2.5 Net global migration rates(a)

1 United Nations Population Division, World Population Prospects: The 2008 Revision. Accessed 21 Jun 2010. <back

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